otis is just a sweetie

in the last week, otis has calmed down and settled in to life in our home. it usually takes about 2 - 3 weeks for rescues to fully settle down and show their true personalities so otis is right on schedule. he is such a smart dog!!! he is definitely learning his commands (sit, off, no, leave it, down) and is really coming along in his obedience. he is also learning when playtime is and when it's time to be quiet. he is actually very self-entertaining with his chew toys (his favorite is one of ed's old shoes that he has been working on killing since he arrived). when he's not chewing on a toy, he's playing with calvin or sleeping on his bed.

i think i've mentioned before that otis is a huge snuggler. he knows when it's bedtime and will hop on the bed and wait for you to get in and snuggle with him. it's too funny!! the other night, he started crying because i walked out of the room and he thought it was time for bed. he didn't understand why i wasn't getting under the covers yet!

we are still working with otis on staying out of the cat food. apparently, it is quite tasty! after watching victoria stillwell (it's me or the dog), we have some good ideas of what we need to do, however. hopefully, her methods will work with otis! or maybe i should say hopefully we will be able to successfully implement her methods! :-)

break through

since sunday, otis has seemed to settle in!! he has relaxed and isn't jumping or being unruly anymore. he is sleeping through the night as well!! and he hasn't had an accident in a while! he was basically housebroken in about a week. even ed has noticed the difference and has seemed to be a little less stressed.

i think the biggest thing now is working with otis on learning his commands - he has sit down pat and we are moving on to down. i think he will be a quick study as he has already learned leave it, down, off and no.

i am not going to be completely excited about otis and his behavior yet. but i can say that he is becoming a very nice dog. :-) he was already extremely sweet and smart. now that he is learning his manners, he is becoming much more of a joy to be around.

otis

we decided to call the new dog otis. it fits him and he is responding to it!

the last week has been hard. it seems that otis has never had any training or discipline and he is making everyone a little crazy. i can tell ed is stressed to the breaking point and i feel completely guilty. all i can do is hope we find a home for otis before too long. the only bright sopt is how well he and calvin get along and how much fun they have playing together.

new year's eve

i took the new dog to the vet day before yesterday and he is healthy!! he got all of his shots and was such a good boy! the vet did make fun of us not having a name. his chart name for right now is new dog.

last night, there were tons of fireworks going off. i was worried the new dog would freak out, but he handled all the noise without batting an eye. he seems to be getting along with calvin and amos, but doesn't really understand how to play with them. calvin will take him a toy so they can play tug of war or keep away, like he and lily did, but the new dog doesn't know what calvin is doing.

we took all the dogs to the dog park today. we tried calling the new dog floyd, but that doesn't seem to fit him. plus, i couldn't remember it when i needed to call him! he did really well. he doesn't know his pack yet, but then he's only been a part of it for a day or so.